Subdiffraction Far-Field Imaging of Luminescent Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 749 - 753
• Main Authors: Cognet, Laurent, Tsyboulski, Dmitri A, Weisman, R. Bruce
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.02.2008
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Luminescent Measurements - methods; Materials science; Materials Testing - methods; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanostructures - ultrastructure; Nanotechnology - methods; Nanotubes; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Particle Size; Physics; Refractometry - methods; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Near infrared radiation; Singlewalled nanotube; Analysis method; Semiconductor materials; Imaging; Optical properties; Luminescence; Carbon nanotubes; Far field; Chemical reactions; Curvature; Fluorescence microscopy
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl0725300

Far-field near-infrared fluorescence microscopy of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has been hampered by the diffraction limit to resolution. A new analysis method is presented that allows subwavelength (<λ/10) mapping of single-molecule chemical reaction sites on semiconducting SWNTs, enabling precise localization of excitonic luminescence regions along the nanotube axis through a nonperturbing, far-field optical measurement. This method is applied to reveal the subdiffraction lengths, curvatures, and defects of luminescent SWNTs in unprecedented detail.